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She said: 'Yes, the mother was not a
perfect mother. But this mother managed to bring up one child [Kevin's
sister] who was perfectly well-integrated and typical, and another child
who was extremely, extremely troublesome.'

The researchers said such children,
which they describe as 'callous-unemotional', form a distinct sub-group
of badly behaved youngsters.

They predicted between a quarter and
half of children with conduct problems could fall into this category,
equating to around 1 per cent of all children in the UK.

The researchers also warn that traditional parenting methods to discipline children such as the naughty step are unlikely to work

Professor Viding said that although
children who had anti-social behavioural tendencies were more likely to
be the product of poor parenting, this was not the case for children
with psychopathic tendencies.

She said: 'For the group which has callous-unemotional traits, there's a strong genetic vulnerability.

'This does not mean these children are born anti-social or are destined to become anti-social.

'But in the same way that some of us
are more susceptible to heart disease, these children are people who are
more vulnerable to environmental influences that trigger the
anti-social outcome.'

However, Professor Viding, who will
present her findings at the British Science Festival in Aberdeen next
week, said there is some evidence that psychopathic children respond to
'warm parenting'.

This might mean giving children what they want in return for good behaviour, even against the parents' better judgment.